Agenda item

The Executive RESOLVED that

(i)            the CIL monies received in the reporting period be noted;

(ii)          the likely impacts of Covid-19 on income be noted; and

(iii)         a report be brought to a future meeting with proposals for introducing a new scheme for the allocation of CIL funds.

The Council had been collecting Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding since the Charging Schedule had come into effect on 1 December 2014.  The CIL Regulations required the Council, as the collecting authority, to pay money over to the parishes, decide how to use the Fund, and to publish details of its CIL income and expenditure.

The Council had received a total of £1,013,934.13 for the reporting period 1October 2019 to 31 March 2020. The Executive was advised that payments due to parishes from 1 October 2019 for income collected in the last reporting period had been as follows:

·         Chobham -  £23,641.66

·         Windlesham - £16,246.70

The Executive was informed that, due to concerns about the economic impact of Covid-19 on the development industry, the Government would be publishing amended regulations to modify the collection of CIL and Section 106 payments, but was asking local authorities to modify their collection regime in the interim. A revised collection policy would be brought to the Executive once the amended regulations had been published and in the interim a flexible approach would be applied to collection where appropriate.

It was noted that, from 1 September 2019, new amendments to the CIL regulations introduced a requirement for Councils to publish "infrastructure funding statements". These statements would replace existing Regulation 123 lists and should include details of how much money had been raised through developer contributions and how it had been spent. Councils would be required to publish their first statements by 31 December 2020. 

The Executive considered the current policy and Section 123 list and requested that a report be brought to a future meeting, with a view to introducing a revised scheme, with alternative options including:

1.    pooling CIL monies, whilst accepting priority for projects within a ward where the funds had been generated;

2.    broadening the use of the funds so it is wider than at present; and

3.    enabling community groups to apply for grants.

RESOLVED that

(i)        the CIL monies received in the reporting period be noted;

(ii)      the likely impacts of Covid-19 on income be noted; and

(iii)     a report be brought to a future meeting with proposals for introducing a new scheme for the allocation of CIL funds.